What Happened?

Shares of water management company Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ: NWPX) jumped 6.1% in the afternoon session after the company reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter financial results, beating analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings. 

The industrial products company posted earnings of $1.38 per share, which surpassed the consensus estimate of $1.02. Revenue also came in strong at $151.1 million, ahead of the anticipated $132.01 million. These figures represented significant year-over-year growth, with sales up 16% from $130.2 million a year ago. The company’s backlog for its Water Transmission Systems stood at $257 million, with confirmed orders pushing the total to $301 million, indicating solid future demand. Following the positive report, the stock price reached a new 52-week high.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $58.93, up 4.3% from previous close.

Is now the time to buy Northwest Pipe? Access our full analysis report here.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Northwest Pipe’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 3 months ago when the stock gained 11.4% on the news that the company reported second-quarter 2025 financial results that surpassed Wall Street's expectations for both earnings and revenue. 

The company reported strong second-quarter 2025 results, posting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, which significantly surpassed the consensus analyst estimate of $0.72. This represents a notable 26.39% earnings surprise. Revenue also outperformed, coming in at $133.2 million against an expected $120.93 million. This performance was driven by record net sales, marking a 2.8% increase from the same period last year. A key contributor was the Precast segment, which saw its revenue grow 21.5% year-over-year. Adding to investor confidence, Northwest Pipe also announced it had completed a $15.0 million stock repurchase program between April and July 2025, buying back 3.6% of its outstanding shares.

Northwest Pipe is up 24.1% since the beginning of the year, and at $58.93 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Northwest Pipe’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,178.

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